We wish to express our sincere thanks to the New Orleans City Council and especially Councilmember Jared Brossett for his leadership in authoring and ensuring passage of the living wage ordinance. This is vitally important to our city, and especially for the economically challenged children, families and seniors we serve at Kingsley House. Passage of the living wage ordinance will...
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Let's start by getting one thing straight — $7.25/hour doesn't pay the bills. There is one simple belief that I will never shrink from as an elected public servant in the city of New Orleans: No New Orleanian should work full-time and receive poverty wages in return. Period. That is why I introduced a living wage ordinance. In 2002, New...
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Requiring certain city vendors to pay workers at least $10.55 an hour would drive up prices on 30 contracts now worth a combined $60 million, according to a recently released report by New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu's administration. But it remains unclear how much the "living wage" proposal would cost the city or how many workers would benefit from it. The fiscal note has been...
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A "living wage" law that would force certain New Orleans city vendors to pay employees at least $10.10 an hour could affect several hundred businesses, many of which are massive firms that aren't based in the area and don't employ any workers in the city, records show. Nonprofits and economic development projects in poor neighborhoods could also be affected,...
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A proposal to impose a $10.10 minimum living wage on certain companies that do business with the City Hall is scheduled for its first public hearing Tuesday (May 11) at 10 a.m. We will be covering the meeting live in this post. Click here for a shorthand guide to the proposed ordinance. 12:35 a.m.: Adjourned. 12:11 a.m.: Closing comments. Brossett: This ordinance is about meaningful public policy. ...
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When a coalition of New Orleans activists in the mid 1990s pushed for the city's right to enact its own minimum wage, conservative politicians, at the urging of business interests, quickly rose up and killed the initiative in its crib. The immediate and vocal opposition stands in contrast with the eerie silence greeting Councilman Jared Brosset's "living wage" proposal, which...
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A proposed increase in fees for second line parades and other special events resulted in mixed messages last week from Mayor Mitch Landrieu's administration. Members of the New Orleans City Council have long grumbled about the need for higher fees to fund improved cleanup efforts, and, for a while last week, it looked like the Landrieu administration was listening. A senior member of the...
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Two measures meant to chisel away at inequality in New Orleans are moving through the City Council. A "living wage" ordinance is headed to the council's Economic Development Committee, and a new rule requiring more transparency in the city's supplier-diversity program is slated for a vote later this month before the full City Council. A timeframe for the living-wage proposal's...
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A vote to legalize ride-sharing services in New Orleans has been delayed by at least two weeks to allow for more debate on the issue, much to the chagrin of Uber, which has been lobbying hard for right to operate in the city. The council had been set to vote on the matter at its meeting Thursday (March 26)....
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As the New Orleans City Council took the latest proposed regulations for Uber and other ride-sharing services for a test drive Thursday (March 5), app enthusiasts and cab drivers took turns kicking the tires with predictable results. Uber supporters said the regulatory pressure was too high. Taxi defenders, too low. "We've got hard working people who want to earn a...
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Cyclists and pedestrians may soon have a new voice in the New Orleans political scene, though the reach and influence of that voice remain unclear. City Councilman Jared Brossett is sponsoring a measure that would create a Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Advisory Committee tasked with advising the council on safety, enforcement and transportation infrastructure for non-drivers. The City Council's transportation committee, which Brossett heads...
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New Orleans City Councilman Jared Brossett has introduced a "living wage" ordinance that would force some contractors working for the city to pay their workers at least $10.10 an hour. People who benefit from city contracts should have to pay a reasonable wage, and the federal minimum, $7.25, is not reasonable, especially when the rising cost of living in the city...
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Contractors and suppliers that do business with the city of New Orleans would, under certain conditions, have to pay their employees at least $10.10 an hour, under a measure proposed by Councilman Jared Brossett. Brossett, who introduced the ordinance last week, bills it as a "living wage" proposal similar to others approved in progressive cities around the country. "I...
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The narrow streets of the French Quarter, built wide enough to handle a horse-drawn omnibus at best, aren't holding up well to modern times. Three residents told the City Council on Tuesday (Jan. 6) that large semi-trucks, some longer than 70 feet, regularly endanger pedestrians and are decimating lampposts, street signs, sidewalks and overhanging balconies built close to corners...
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